Monetary policy

Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who broke the back of U.S. inflation in the 1980s and three decades later led President Barack Obama’s bid to rein in the investment risk-taking of commercial banks, has died.

The Treasury secretary suggested a role for lawmakers in containing any fallout with financial contracts stemming from the transition to a new interest rate benchmark.

Unlike previous central bank chiefs, Powell’s chances of being renominated by either the current president or many of the Democratic contenders are slim.

Whereas most regulators appointed in the Trump administration are focused on rolling back the post-crisis framework, Nellie Liang helped create it.

Asset-backeds have long benefited from the low interest rate environment, but participants at an industry conference appear to think that the party cannot go on forever.

The Federal Reserve was not an economic buyer; it accumulated its vast holdings of mortgage bonds for policy reasons; Fannie Mae's chief economist, Douglas Duncan, looks at who might step up, and at what yield.